Maruti Suzuki to set up two new solar plants in Rohtak and Manesar as part of its renewable energy push

Accelerating efforts on the environment front and strengthening its commitment to carbon neutrality, Maruti Suzuki India announced the installation of two new solar power plants at its facilities. These two solar power plants, namely 1.85 MWp at the R&D Centre, Rohtak, and 20 MWp at Manesar will be commissioned in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 respectively.

With this, the company’s total solar power capacity across all facilities will reach 48.15 MWp. Besides, it is increasing the share of green power sourced from the Haryana State Electricity Board for its consumption. Elaborating on the company’s efforts, Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India said, “We have been increasing the share of power generated through renewable sources of energy since the start of our first solar power plant in 2014. The announcement of the new solar power projects at Manesar and Rohtak accelerates our efforts in this direction. By FY 2024-25, more than 30% of our power requirement is expected to be met through renewable energy.”

He added, “The use of renewable energy is just one of the several initiatives that the company has undertaken towards the environment. Right from product design to manufacturing processes and distribution to end-of-life management, Maruti Suzuki has been making conscious and focused efforts on environment protection and the conservation of natural resources. It has deployed systems and practices that relate to circular economy such as deploying 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and eliminating waste. Besides, the company is working on a slew of initiatives to bring down emissions across manufacturing, products and logistics.”

Continuing the decarbonisation efforts, in FY 2022-23, Maruti Suzuki launched its first strong hybrid in Grand Vitara. The company also expanded its CNG portfolio by bringing CNG on NEXA models and taking the total to 14 CNG models. The Company is on course to bring its first EV, based on Concept eVX, by FY 2024-25.

Maruti Suzuki vehicles are already compatible with E20 fuel (20% blending of ethanol with gasoline). Going ahead, Flex Fuel vehicles and Bio-CNG are some other promising options that the Company would pursue in its efforts towards decarbonisation. It showcased its first flex-fuel mass segment prototype the previous fiscal year, and is expected to be launched by FY 2025.